Footprints in the Snow (or Marking Up a Text)

My students answer a guiding question every day. The Guiding Question today is a kind of pre-assessment for me. I am wondering if they have experienced this strategy before, and to what extent they are comfortable marking up a text.

I anticipate that my students have underlined important phrases in a book, or a text, but the idea of "thinking" on a text might be new for them.

The Common Core wants students, by the end of the year, to read and comprehend texts (both literary and informational) that are complex. I can't help my students do this unless I begin to assess their comprehension levels, and the two most informal ways I practice are reading students' annotations and conferring with students about what they've read.

I Do It:

On the document camera, I read the article "Honoring King's Dream" out loud while I annotate. While I read, I think out loud and make connections, and ask questions. For example, I might ask "This happened in 1963 and I know that my parents were alive then. I wonder if they heard this famous speech on the radio?"

Because I write in the white margins, I tell the students that it is like leaving footprints in the snow! Here is the annotated article after I finished modeling how to do it.

We Do It:

I turn off the document camera, and ask that the students reread the first few paragraphs (the ones I modeled) while they track their own thinking. 

I circulate around the room to make sure they are able to make connections, or ask questions. I use this time to confer with students who seem stuck, and try to transfer their thinking on the page.

They Do It:

Then they are asked to read the rest of the article, and annotate their thinking on their own. This student example shows basically what I expect from my kiddos.

Students glue these reflection stems into their notebook at the beginning of the year, and they choose one at the close of each class.